Bottle label remover



Gct. 30, 1951 c. L. GERLACH ET AL BOTTLE LABEL REMOVER Filed June l0, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet l my i MA Oct 30, 195] c. L. GERLAcl-l ET Al.

BOTTLE LABEL REMOVER Filed June lO, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS C- 30, 1951 c. l.. GERLACH ET A1.

BOTTLE LABEL REMOVER 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June l0, 1946 INVENTORJ Afro/@AEM 0d 30, 195l c. L. GERLACH ET AL BOTTLE LABEL REMOVER 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June l0, 1946 C. L. GERLACH ET AL Oct. 30, 1951 l BOTTLE LABEL REMOVER 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June l0, 1946.

QCL 30, 195l c. L. GERLACH ET AL 2,573,169 BOTTLE LABEL REMOVER Filed June l0, 1946 Patented Oct. 30, 1951 BOTTLE LABEL REMOVER Charles L. Gerlach kesha, Wis.,

and Robert W. Marty, Wauassignors to Michael Yundt Company, Waukesha, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application June 10, 1946, 'Serial No. 675,572

6 Claims.

This invention relates `to improvements in bottle-washing machines and Vparticularly .to a structure incorporated in such machines for insuring removal of the labels from the bottles during their passage through the machine.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a bottle-Washing machine with means :for removing labels from .the .bottles and .for discharging the 'labels outside of the machine, thus improving both the actions of the bottle-scrubbing means and of solutions used in the .machines in cleaning the bottles as well as lengthening vthe eiective life of such solutions.

Another object of the invention .is .to provide means corelated with the conveyor transporting the bottles through the machine and on which the bottles are placed from but retained :under the Ypartial control of the :conveyor and which shifts the bottles, relative to such conveyor, a number of times during each cycle of machine operations to provide access a inumber of times to the labels by the jets for washing the labels ofi the bottles.

A further object of the invention `is to provide means for collecting the labels after their removal from the bottles Vand for simultaneously draining and carrying the labels outside of the bottle- Washing machine proper where thelabels are discharged to Waste.

Another object of the invention is to provide means receiving the drained labels and preparing such labels for discharge as a viscous liquid which need only be diluted to obtain any desired fluidity.

And a further object of the invention is `to so combine a label-removing mechanism with :a bottle-washing machine as to 4minimize the ad ditional space required for the entire combination and as to require only the minimum :changecin the general construction of the machine.

Objects and advantages other than those vabove set forth will be apparent Vfrom the following description when read :in connection with Ithe accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partial side elevation of 4a bottlewa'shing machine somewhat diagrammatically showing the relations in a'vertical lplane of .the various sub-assemblies of the present invention relative to each other and to the other portions of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a cross vsectional view on the plane of line II-H of Fig. l to show the relations of only the various sub-assemblies of the `present invention toreach other in a horizontal plane;

Fig. 3 isa top plan ofthe meansor sub-assembly `vafor applying pressure jets of liquid on several points of each bottle for removing the labels during passage of the ibottle through `the bottlewashing machine;

Fig. 4 isa side elevation of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 isa cross section on the plane of line V-V of Fig. 4 of one of the jetting pipes and a portion of its support;

Fig. 6 is a cross section VI-VI of Fig 4;

Fig. 7 is a `partial end View of means ora subassembly on which the bottles are placed by the conveying `bottle-holders or pockets but are retained under partial control of the holders and by which :the bottles are shifted relative to such holders;

Fig. 8 is .a side 'elevation of a portion of the mechanism for shifting the bottles relative to the holders;

.-Eig. 10 is a top 4plan view of the means or subassembly for receiving and carrying, from the bottle-washing `portion of the machine, the labels removed from the bottles;

IFig. 11 is a cross section on the plane of line XI--XI of Fig. l0;

Fig. 12 is a partial end view on the plane of line XII- XII of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a side elevation of the means or subassembly for pulp' ,g the removed labels prior to discharge of the labels to waste and of the drive for the label-.removing vand label-,pulping means; and

Fig. -14 is an end elevation of Fig. 13 on the plane of -line XIV-XIV of Fig. V13.

Generally, the present invention isemployed in combination with a bottle-washing lmachine of the type having a conveyor moving a number of rows `of bottles through various compartments of fthe machine in which the steps of pre-heat ing, soaking, rinsing, `jetting, `and brushing are performed on the bottles. The present -invention includes a plurality ofmeansfor sub-assemblies so combined -with Vand related to the general structure of the bottle-washing machine .and to eachother as to insure removal of the labels from the bottles, to carry vthe vlabels outside of the field of theabove-mentioned.bottle-washing steps of `the machine, and to prepare the labels for discharge to waste. Such sub-assemblies include means, in effect, receiving the Vbottles from the bottle vconveyor and shifting the bottles a pluralityof times relative to the bottle holders of the fconveyor lto place the bottles in positions for a label-removing operation to be performed on the plane of line thereon. Such label-removing operation involves applying a plurality of jets of high pressure liquid at a plurality of locatiosn to each of the bottles in each of several positions of the bottles and employs a sub-assembly especially designed to utilize high pressure and to be readily disassembled for cleaning, etc. Another sub-assembly receives the labels upon their removal from the bottles and carries the labels outside of the field of bottle-cleaning operations of the machine. Before the labels may be discharged to waste, the labels must be reduced by special means to a pulp or sludge which may be made sufciently liquid to flow as desired. All of the above designated means are both structurally and functionally so combined and related to the machine generally as to coact therewith and avoid interference in the general operation of the machine and, of course, coact with each other in producing the final result of removing the labels from the bottles and disposing of the labels outside the machine proper.

Referring particularly to the drawings, the usual bottle-washing machine is modiiied by the addition of a special compartment, indicated at 20, which is interposed between two of the bottlewashing means stated above. The compartment is generally defined by a bottom 2|, side walls 22, and partitions 23 forming a portion of the casing enclosing the bottle-washing mechanism generally. The side walls preferably extend above the other portions of the machine casing to inclose additional space between the special compartment end walls 24 and the top 25. The usual sprocket wheels 29 carry a chain conveyor 3B on which are mounted holders or pockets 3| in which bottles 32 are carried through the machine as is well known, said pockets being open at oneend and constricted at the other end to hold bottles therein when said pockets are their open ends up. A plurality of sprockets 33 and 34 are so mounted in the compartment 20 as to provide for freeing the bottles temporarily in the pockets by reversing movement of the bottles relative-to the general direction of bottle movement through the machine, thus minimizing the floor space required by the addition of compartment and utilizing the height of such compartment most effectively for the structural relationships and the functional coaction of the various means of the present invention which cooperate in the label removing and disposing functions. Hence, the conveyor chain is provided with a reach 31 bringing the bottles to the position for the label-removing operation, an intermediate and reversely moving reach or zone 38 in which the label-removing operation is performed, and a top reach 39 delivering the bottle from the compartment 20. In the label-removing zone the pockets 3| have their open ends down and the bottles must be held within such pockets.

In the intermediate chain reach 38, where the position of the bottle pockets 3| is reversed from that of the preceding and succeeding reaches of the chain, the bottles 32 are freed from their seating in and control by the pockets to rest on the edges of bars 43, equal in number to the number of bottle rows in the machine. The bars 43 are located eccentrically (see Fig. 7) of the center line of the bottles as freed from the pockets and the bars are joined by rods 44 severally passing through the ends of the bars, the bars and rods forming a, slotted table extending the width of the bottle conveyor 30-3l and for substantially travelling with .5.

the length of the conveyor reach 38 so that the 75 bottles seat on the table at the beginning of such reach but remain within the confines of and are returned to the pockets at the end of such reach. Movement of the bottles out of pockets 3| to seat on the table is controlled by a guide having bars 4| extending into interleaved relation with the table bars 43. A similar guide 42 is provided at the discharge end of the table to reseat and hold the bottles in the pockets until the bottles are in the top reach of the conveyor.

Referring now to Figs. 5, 7-9 in particular, the table is mounted on a plurality of rocker arms 45 movably engaging the rods 44 at each end of the table and fixed on rock shafts 46 and 41 extending across the machine and journaled in the side walls 22 thereof, as indicated at 48. The rock shaft 46 extends a sufficient distance outside one of the machine side walls 22 to have fixed thereon cranks 50 and 5| bearing rollers 52 to contact severally with the surface of cams 53 and 54 having a similar configuration but fixed in different positions on a counter shaft 55 extending across the machine and driven from the usual drive (not shown) for the conveyor 30-3|. Hence, the table 43, 44 is reciprocated two strokes for each revolution of the shaft 55 which shaft is preferably so connected to the conveyor drive as to obtain one revolution of the shaft for each stepwise advance by the conveyor in its movement axially through the machine and corresponding to the axial distance occupied by four rows of bottles. As the pockets push the bottles along the bars 43 the bottles Iwill be turned in one direction about their longitudinal axes. While this may be sucient to free labels from between the bottles and the pockets, it has been found desirable to also temporarily reverse the direction of bottle turning. This is accomplished by reciprocation of the bars 43; the movement of such bars toward the left as viewed in Fig. 2 causes the rotation of the bottles to reverse.

The pressure-jetting means or sub-assembly includes a manifold 59 preferably made as a single casting, adjustable by a screw 58 (see Figs. 3 and 4) on rails B0 on a bracket 6| extending from one side of the machine, and is supplied with liquid under pressure from a suitable source (not shown) by way of an opening 62 in the manifold. The manifold is provided with four apertures, with flanges 63, in one side of the manifold for receiving pipes 64 with nozzles $5, the pipes extending across the machine over and adjacent to the rows of bottles on the table and the nozzles being so positioned as to jet into the bottle pockets and on several portions of the several bottles resting on the table. The pipes 64 are suspended on hangers 66 (Figs. 4 and 5) sliding on substantially channel-shaped bars 61 extending across the machine between a bracket 68 fixed on the manifold and a bracket 69 fixed on one side of the machine.

Each of the pipes 64 has a collar 12 formed thereon adjacent one end to receive a gasket 13 for seating on the flange 63 when the pipe end is inserted in a particular manifold aperture. The manner of making the joints between the pipes and the manifold need be described only in relation to one such joint. The seated gasket is pressed tightly on the flange, while retaining ready removability of the pipes, by the use of a bifurcated yoke 14 (Figs. 4 and 6) fulcrumed as at 15 in the casting 59 and having arcuate portions 1| severally bearing on the collar 12 at diametrically opposed points. The upper end of the yoke is provided with a nut 11 to receive a s screw 1a mounted in a sleeve `19 lon the manifmd and the screw has a threaded handvvheel 8U fined thereon and bearing on one 'end of the sleeve. Rotation of the handwheel swings the yoke about itsfulcrums and allows the making of a pressuretight joint between the manifold and the pipe while retaining ready removability of the pipe for cleaning or other purposes. The other ends of the pipes 64 are severally closed by plates `82 with handles 83 by which the pipes and their hangers 66 may be pulled along the supports 61, and the plates are provided with pins 84 assisting in locating the pipes in a predetermined position when a pipe is Vto be replaced. A suitablecover v|35 removably `incluses the closed pipe en-ds projecting outside of the machine.

The labels are removed 'fromthe bottles b 'y the force of the `jets issuing from the nozzles 65 and are received on a chute 99 (Fig. 1) extending the full `Width of the machine under the table and shaped to Vdischarge the labels adjacent a side Wall of the machine, and over a relatively small area only, on a traveling screen sub-assembly by which the labels are drained and discharged outside of a side ywall of the machine. A screen 9| (Figs. -1'2) of suitable mesh i-s mounted on sprocket chains 92 to form an endless belt. The chains engage with pairs of sprockets 93, 94, 95, and 96 ofvvhich the sprocket 93 is the screen-driving sprocket, sprockets 94, 95 serve only to change the direction of screen movement, and sprocket 96 is adjustably mounted to take up the screen slack. Between the sprockets 96-93 and 95-'95 the chains and vscreen slide on `vvays 91, 98 extending across the machine. A shaft |02, to Which the sprockets 96 'are fixed, is journaled in cross-heads |93 slidable in guides |94 formed in the Wall of a casing portion |95 extending from one side of the machine. The position of the crossheads in the guides is adjustable by screws |56 fixed in the cross-heads and extending severally through brackets |01 on the casing |95, the nuts |08 bearing on such brackets for adjustably positioning the cross-heads. Hence, the tautness of the chains and screen may be readily adjusted as desired.

It will be seen that the driving sprocket 93 and sprockets A94, 95 are mounted in a casing portion 3 also extending from the side of the machine. Sprockets 93 and 94 are spaced sufciently for mounting therebetween a pipe 4 with a plurality of nd'zles ||5 directing jets of liquid under pressure on the reverse side of the screen for Washing off the labels before the screen moves on its return reach between the sprockets 941-95. The labels IWashed olf the screen fall into the hopper-like bottom of the casing extension 3 and discharge therefrom by way of an opening IIB. It will be seen that the nozzle pipe ||4, ||5 is also removably mounted, as by lugs Hl, fixed on the pipe and resting on angle brackets ||8 extending across the casing extension ||3.

As removed from the screen the labels are in relatively large pieces even though soaked, and it is accordingly desirable or may be required that the labels be reduced to a pulp or sludge which will now readily in a drain with `the minimum addition of water. The labels discharged through the casing opening ||6 are directedtoward and drawn through the casing |24 (Figs 13 and 14) in which the labels are beaten to pulp. The beater comprises a shaft |25 on which is mounted a hub |26 with beater arms |21 projecting therefrom. The shafts |25 extends from tnefcas'inelfz# thrbgh a liquid-tight gland |33 and is journaled in suitable bearings I 34 in a bearing pedestal |55. The -pulped labels are discharged to fvvaste Afrom the beater casing by Way of a drain |36.

B oth the traveling screen and the beater are preferably driven by single means such as an electric motor |40 Vmounted on a bracket |4| outside the machine and adjacent the pulper. The motor pulley is belted, las 'at |42, to a pulley |43 o'n the end of the beater shaft |25 and is also belted, as at |45, to a pulley |46 on lthe input shaft of a speed reducer, generally designated |41, and mounted on a bracket |48 adjacent the mbtcr. Such speed reducer may be of any Wellknow'n ehs't'ruction vvhich, together With the speed reductions obtainable by way of the belt |45 and pulley |46, will give a speed on its output shaft suitable for -driving the screen. The output shaft of the speed reducer has mounted thereon a sprocket |53 connected by a chain |54 with a sprocket |55 on the shaft bearing the chain driving sprockets 93.

It Will thus be seen that the present invention provides means for freeing bottles in the cone veyor pockets and shifting the bottles Within the space defined by the bottle pockets and in timed relation to the conveyor movement. The shifting means `act a number of times on each -rovv' of bottles during a given cycle of operations of the bottle-'Washing machine and the shifting means are driven by the same means as are used to drive the bottle conveyor. The bottles are 'spaced Within and relative 'to the bottle pockets 5 for the i'mpingement thereon of a plurality 'of jets at varying angles to the center line of the bottles to flush off the already somewhat loosened labels. The label particles are collected by a traveling screen on the area of the screen commencing its travel through the machine so that the greater portion of the liquid drains from the label particles into the machine. The drained labels are carried out of the machine and are removed from the screen by jets applied to the reverse side of the reverse reach of the screen. I'he labels discharged from the screen are reduced to pulp before discharge to waste and both the screen and the pulper are driven by a single means separate from the conveyor and table drive and which drives the screen at a relatively low speed While driving the pulper at a relatively high speed.

Although but one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein Without vdeparting from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

We claim: m

1. In a machine for washing bottles, a conveyor providing pockets receiving the bottles, a slotted table mounted adjacent to and receiving the bottles from the conveyor pockets, said table being spaced from said pockets only enough to let the bottles become partially free of said pockets while being moved along said table by said conveyor, means for moving the table back and forth to reciprocally turn the bottles about their longitudinal axes relative to the conveyor pockets while still in said pockets, and means for applying jets of liquid under pressure to the exterior of the bottles While being turned in said pockets to remove the labels therefrom.

2. In a bottle washing machine having a, travelling conveyor provided with bottle pockets open at one end and constricted at the other end to hold bottles therein when said pockets are travelling with their open ends up, said machine having a label-removing zone through which said pockets travel with their open ends down, a bar for engaging the bottoms of bottles to loosely hold said bottles within said pockets as they move through said zone, said bar being eccentrically located of the center of bottles so held, whereby said bottles are rotated in said pockets as they are advanced thereby.

3. In a bottle washing machine having a travelling conveyor provided with bottle pockets open at one end and constricted at the other end t hold bottles therein when said pockets are travelling with their open ends up, said machine having a label-removing zone through which said pockets travel with their open ends down, a bar for engaging the bottoms of bottles to loosely hold said bottles within said pockets as they move through said zone, said bar being eccentrically located of the center of bottles so held, whereby said bottles are rotated in said pockets as they are advanced thereby, and means for longitudinally reciprocating said bar to cause the direction of said rotation to intermittently reverse and thereby aid the removal of labels and debris from between said bottles and said Dockets.

4. In a bottle washing machine having a, labelremoving zone extending across said machine through which bottles travel longitudinally of said machine, a chute extending across said machine beneath said zone for receiving labels washed from bottles, said chute being inclined and having a discharge inside of and adjacent one side of said machine, and a travelling screen adjacent said chute and extending across the interior of said machine, said screen extending outside of said machine to discharge labels outside of said machine.

5. A bottle washing machine as claimed in claim 4 in which the top reach of said screen travels from the side of said machine adjacent said discharge to the opposite side whereby water pouring on said screen from said discharge drains into the bottom of said machine as said screen travels toward its label discharge end.

6. A bottle washing machine as claimed in claim 4 in which said screen at the label discharge end thereof is bent around an arc so that the outer surface thereof is facing downwardly, and in which there is a plurality of nozzles located withn the connes of said screen and positioned to direct jets of liquid under pressure against the inner face of said screen as -it is bent around said arc.

CHARLES L. GERLACH. ROBERT W. MARTY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

